George Clooney was once shunned by Hollywood

MUMBAI: Actor George Clooney was shunned by Hollywood after his 1997 film, Batman & Robin, flopped.

In the film, the 59-year-old actor starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman. Now, in an interview to The Sun, the actor has revealed that Hollywood directors refused to work with him after the release of the film, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Clooney, who appeared in the TV show "ER" from 1994 to 1999, thinks his fortunes changed when he teamed up with Steven Soderbergh to make the crime comedy "Out Of Sight".

"Steven was coming off a couple of flops and I was coming off 'Batman & Robin' and we both needed a success. Our backs were against the wall, in a way. I was still doing 'ER' at the time and there were always these conversations about whether you can go from television to film. It was a big deal - and I was losing that argument," he said.

"After 'Batman & Robin', I realised I was going to be held responsible for the movie, not just for the performance. And so we waited, and when I found that movie, we chased Steven down to direct it. There was a director attached and he walked away because he said I wasn't a movie actor. It all worked out. Steven directed the hell out of that movie - he did a beautiful job with it," he added.

Despite his fame, Clooney remains humble in his approach to his career.

"I was a struggling actor for 15 years. Any job you got, it was, Thank you, thank you, thank you'. And you'd show up and some guy is a jerk and you're like, I don't care. I got a job. I'm getting paid and paying the rent. I'm thrilled to be here. I'm lucky'," he said.